Day seventy –five
I was up early to head to seminary this morning to start my day and felt like I needed to pray for some guidance. I have a lot on my plate lately and some tough issues to tackle. I know that even if I do everything to the best of my ability, it will not be enough. I really need some divine help, some grace, so that is what my prayer focused on, asking for help.
Today I am in Genesis 21. I focused on Genesis 21:6:
“And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.”
The footnote for the word laugh states that there is another phrase that could be placed in this verse; it is ‘to rejoice’. Sarah is rejoicing. She has good reason to be rejoicing, the Lord kept His promise, and she gave birth to Isaac, which is a miracle considering her age. Life is good for her right now. When you know what Sarah has been through to get to this point, it makes you want to rejoice with her. And that’s exactly what she wants! She is so excited about this that she wants to share it and have ‘all that hear’ rejoice with her.
What are the things in your life that you rejoice about and share with others? What gives you that excited feeling inside that makes you feel like you have to share it or you might burst?
“Men are that they might have joy” (2 Ne 2:25). Sometimes we lose sight of this, especially during difficult times, but it is what the Lord wants for us to have, joy. So much joy that we can’t help but share it with others!
Take a minute and think about how God is working in your life. What blessings and miracles has he given you? As you start to remember these blessings do you find yourself smiling? I did. I even let out a little giggle because I wanted to say, “Can you believe all these great things have happened to me?” Maybe that’s what Sarah felt when it says she ‘laughed’, it was a physical reaction to the fact that she just couldn’t hold in her happiness any longer.
We all have reasons to rejoice; remembering these reasons is what is important. Holding on to those feelings of gratitude and love help us to recognize the Lord’s hand in our lives. The amazing thing about this is that when we make an effort to find reasons to rejoice, over time, we will have a desire to share it with others so that they too can experience those same feelings of joy. Sharing our joy for the Lord, that’s true rejoicing!
You just stumbled on my theme for the week. I believe in miracles and I pray to recognize the miracles for what they are and praise God for them. There is an awful lot of joy in praising God.
ReplyDeleteThis was a reminder for me to keep looking for God in my life, especially when life gets hard. It is amazing how many things He does for me that I don't recognize until later. I was definitely filled with joy when I thought about all He has done for me! It made me want to rejoice, so I did, in my blog!
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